EXCLUSIVE: Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike set eyes on Eminem collaboration; eager to work on a Bollywood project with Salman Khan: “It would be fun”

Dimitri also wishes for a Bollywood collaboration and maybe make music for Salman Khan.

By Monica Yadav -

December 18, 2023 - 1:54 PM IST

After delivering a super successful arena tour with Martin Garrix earlier this year and with a forthcoming arena tour with Armin van Buuren in the pipeline, the 17th edition of Asia's largest music festival, Sunburn announced yet another massive multi-city Sunburn Arena tour Belgium’s most loved brother DJ duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike who enjoy a long-standing association with the Indian sub-continent will perform in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and New Delhi through a non-stop five city-run that kicked off on 23rd November 2023 and concluded on 27th November 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike set eyes on Eminem collaboration; eager to work on a Bollywood project with Salman Khan: “It would be fun”

The multi-platinum duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike have recently announced their upcoming debut studio album – Rewind + Repeat which throws back to the sonic aesthetics of the ’90s, borrowing from trance, techno, rave, and hardcore. As EDM mainstays, the duo is no strangers to crafting anthemic main-stage hits and they’re ensuring their debut album follows in the footsteps of their decade-plus career of bangers. The album hits the ground running with their first single ‘She Knows’, a fusion of the best that electronic and hip-hop has to offer, with features from Akon and David Guetta

In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Dimitri Vegas, real name Dimitri Thivaios, spoke about working with brother Like Mike (Michael Thivaios ) for several years, performing in India post-pandemic and the wish to work with rapper Eminem. Dimitri also wishes for a Bollywood collaboration and maybe make music for Salman Khan.

In India, you’ve performed several times. What do you look forward to the most when performing here, considering its rich cultural diversity?
The last time I played in Mumbai was pre-pandemic. It's been interesting for the past two years. After the pandemic to kinda see every country and see where everybody is after so many years. I did play Sunburn New Year’s last year but you know Sunburn Goa has been on the forefront. I'm super curious to see what the scene is today.

How do you perceive the Indian music scene, and are there any artists you enjoy listening to or would like to work in India?
I focused on the last few years on acting, I'm always super fascinated by the Bollywood scene. I also have some friends in the scene so I'm still hoping that one day to find the right Bollywood project to be part of; with maybe Salman Khan. I think it would be fun.

In a genre as dynamic as EDM and changing trends, how do you try to balance between staying true to your artistic vision and adapting to the ever-evolving soundscape?
We did a big revamp of our sound at the beginning of the year. We have always played harder but now we are kinda going back to our early roots, I started DJing in the 90s and our sound is very close to the 90s rave techno sound that I used to play.

How do you define your signature sound, and how has it evolved over the years?
Rave, Techno, Hardcore sound. Yeah, you have to listen to it. It's kinda bizarre, haha.

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If you could collaborate with an artist from a completely different genre, who would it be, and why? How do you think that collaboration might sound?
Always Eminem! I use so many Eminem samples and sounds in our show anyway. For me, to maybe one day be in the studio with him and figure something out, would be a dream come true.

Throughout your career, what are some of the most memorable moments that stand out to you, whether they be in the studio, during a performance, or in interactions with fans?
We are super grateful that we've already had such an amazing career filled with incredible memories, successful songs with amazing shows. Being able to do my solo concert here in Mumbai for 10,000 people is insane.

Looking ahead, what do you hope the legacy of Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike will be in the music industry? How would you like to be remembered by your fans and peers?
I hope we still get to do this for many many many years but you know it's always a matter of kinda reinventing yourself while not losing track of what you've done before. It's an interesting one you know because at our stage in our career, you have so many tracks that people expect to hear. I could play a track purely with my music and still not have enough time to fill a two-hour performance but you also wanna go forward so it's always that balance to bring back what people know in a different form but also bring new stuff. It's a constant struggle but I hope that people will always keep memories of our music. As I said before I'm also expanding into acting and doing movies.